Coolant-circulation cooling device for computer servo

ABSTRACT

A coolant-circulation cooling device is provided for cooling a plurality of computer servos, including a compressor, a condenser, a coolant reservoir, an evaporation coil, a cooling head, and a pump. The coolant reservoir is provided with the evaporation coil in a wound condition and connected to the compressor and the condenser to form a closed refrigeration circulation system. The cooling head is connected via piping to the coolant reservoir and can be directly attached to a heat generation element to remove heat therefrom by a circulation of a coolant from the coolant reservoir to the cooling head by being driven by the pump. The coolant circulating back to the coolant reservoir  4  is maintained in a low temperature by the closed refrigeration circulation system.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a novel structure of a coolant-circulation device for computer servos, which employs a closed refrigeration circulation system to maintain a coolant in a coolant reservoir within a low temperature range and uses pipes connecting the coolant reservoir to at least one cooling head attachable to a heat generation element of a servo, together with a pump connected thereto for driving the coolant from the coolant reservoir, through the pipes and an inlet tube of the cooling head, to enter the cooling head to remove heat from the heat generation element of the servo and then return to the coolant reservoir through an outlet tube of the cooling head to complete circulation thereof and realize cooling of the servo.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

With the prosperous development of computer networks, the increased operations thereof require increased number of computer servos. The servos are arranged in a more and more compact or concentrated manner. This is especially true for large companies, or network service providers, which uses a large number of computer servos, and a great amount of heat is generated. Such a problem of large amount of heat is an important issue that the network data centers have to solve. Further, excessive amount of heat often results in instability of the network systems, which also represents an increased amount of power consumption. To solve the heat dissipation problem for a closed computer room, a commonly used manner is to install an air conditioning system or heat dissipation fans built in the computers can be used for such a purpose.

In a computer room of a compact arrangement of computers, the air-conditioned cooling system is to arrange an air conditioner in the computer room. However, with the number of computer increased and the arrangement thereof getting more compact and concentrated, it becomes impossible for the cooling air to completely circulate through each computer or servo in every corner of the computer room, so that localized heat concentration areas are formed in the computer room where the cooling air does not flow therethrough. Thus, it is not possible to effectively cool each computer servo with such an air-conditioner and the instability of the computer systems still results.

Further, in case the computer servos are only cooled with their own built-in heat dissipation fans, even thought the number of the computer servos is limited, they still generate a huge amount of heat, which can be sufficiently removed simply by the operation of the fans. With the continuous generation of heat by the computer servos, the only air flow circulating through the computer room is of a high temperature, which prevents the computer servos from being further cooled down. Thus, the cooling is certainly insufficient for the computer servos in such a condition. Again, the instability of the computer systems still results. And no effective cooling can be realized.

In view of the above problems, the present inventor, who has extensive experience in the related fields, is devoted himself to a solution for such problems, and thus provides the cooling device of the present invention, which will be described hereinafter.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved structure of a cooling system for computer servos. The cooling system comprises a compressor, a condenser, a coolant reservoir, an evaporation coil, a cooling head, and a pump. The coolant reservoir is provided with the evaporation coil in a wound condition and connected to the compressor and the condenser to form a closed refrigeration circulation system. The cooling head is a hollow member and forms an inlet tube and an outlet tube, which are respectively connected by pipes to the coolant reservoir. In use, the cooling head is attached to a heat generation element of each computer servo and is connected with a pump to drive a coolant from the coolant reservoir into the cooling head through the inlet tube of the cooling head to remove heat generated by the heat generation element of the computer servo, the coolant being allowed to return back to the coolant reservoir through the outlet tube. The coolant inside the coolant reservoir is continuously maintained in a low temperature range (which can be set as desired) for circulations and use to ensure the operation stability of each computer servo.

The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cooling head in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plain view of a lower member of the cooling head of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating an application of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

As shown in FIG. 1, which illustrates a perspective view of a cooling device constructed in accordance with the present invention, the cooling device, which is generally designated at 1, comprises a compressor 2, a condenser 3, and a coolant reservoir 4 arranged in a housing of the cooling device 1. The coolant reservoir 4 comprises an evaporation coil 41, which is arranged therein, preferably in a wound condition, or surrounds a circumference thereof and which is connected to the compressor 2 and the condenser 3 to form a closed refrigeration circulation system. The coolant reservoir 4 forms an outlet opening 42 and an inlet opening 43, which are respectively connected to an outlet pipe 420 and an inlet pipe 430 for further extending toward and coupling with a heat generation element of a computer servo to be cooled down. The coupling of the outlet pipe 420 and the inlet pipe 430 to the computer servo is realized by being coupled to a cooling head 5, which is attached to the heat generation element of the computer servo to effect cooling of the computer servo.

Next, the structure of the cooling head 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The cooling head 5 is comprised of an upper member 51 and a lower member 52. An inlet tube 510 and an outlet tube 511 are formed on and extend from the upper member 51 for respectively coupling the outlet pipe 420 and the inlet pipe 430. A central portion of the lower member 52 forms a plurality of raised ribs 521, which corresponds in position to a central processing unit (CPU) 50 or other heat generation elements to which the cooling head is attached. The arrangement of the ribs 521 increases the contact area between a coolant (such as an iced water) flowing into the cooling head 5 and the lower member 52, whereby the cooling head 5 can be efficiently cooled down to rapidly dissipate heat from the CPU 50, effectively enhancing the cooling performance of the cooling head 5.

The circulation of the coolant between the coolant reservoir 4 and the computer servo is realized by a pump 7 (not shown in the drawing), of which the quantity and/or capacity is selected in accordance with the number of computer servos and the length of the piping line to which it is coupled. Since the pump 7 can be any known fluid pumping device, no further description is needed herein.

In a practical application of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, a servo rack 6 that is installed in a computer room receives and retains a plurality of computer servos 60 therein. With the arrangement of the servo racks 6 becoming concentrated, the heat generated is correspondingly increased and subject to concentration in some localized areas. Relying only upon air conditioning systems to remove the head is generally not effective in properly cooling each servo 60 down, eventually leading to instability of the computer or network systems. In contrary to the known arrangement, the present invention uses the arrangement of the cooling device 1, where the evaporation coil 41 of the coolant reservoir 4 is in connection with the compressor 2 and the condenser 3 to form a closed refrigeration circulation system for maintaining the coolant inside the coolant reservoir 4 in a low temperature condition; and each servo 60 is provided with a cooling head 5 (see FIG. 2), of which the inlet tube 510 and the outlet tube 511 are respectively coupled to a coolant supply pipe 512, which is connected to a coolant supply manifold 44, and a coolant drain pipe 513, which is connected to a coolant drain manifold 45. An end of the coolant supply manifold 44 is connected to the outlet pipe 420 of the coolant reservoir 4, while the coolant drain manifold 45 is connected to the inlet pipe 430. And, the outlet pipe 420 is provided with a pump 7.

When the compressor 2 is set in operation, the temperature of the coolant inside the coolant reservoir 4 is kept (or set) in a desired low temperature range. The coolant is then driven by the pump 7 to flow from the outlet pipe 420 of the coolant reservoir 4 into the coolant supply manifold 44 and further enters the cooling head 5 via the coolant supply pipe 512 to effect cooling of the heat generation device of the computer servo. Then, the coolant flows through the coolant drain pipe 513 to the coolant drain manifold 45 and then enters the inlet pipe 430 for returning back to the coolant reservoir 4 to thereby realize circulation of the coolant. The returned coolant, which carries the heat from the servo, is of a relative high temperature, but is soon cooled down and kept in the desired the low temperature range by the operation of the refrigeration circulation system. The coolant circulation system incorporates a pump 7 operating with a power or capacity selected in accordance with the number of the servo connected thereto and the length of piping coupled therewith; or alternatively, the inlet pipe 430 can be provided with an additional pump to facilitate the circulation of the coolant for enhancing the cooling result.

The present invention offers at least the following advantages:

(1) The present makes use of a coolant circulation arrangement to effect cooling and employs a refrigeration circulation system to maintain the coolant inside the coolant reservoir 4 in a desired low temperature condition, which can be set as desired. Thus, when the coolant circulates back to the coolant reservoir 4, although the temperature thereof is raised by the heat from the computer servo, yet it can be efficiently cooled by the refrigeration circulation system so as to eliminate adverse effect thereof against the cooling operation. Further, the coolant is set in circulation for repeated use to thereby effect cooling.

(2) The present invention includes an arrangement of the cooling head 5, which is can be directly attached to a heat generation element of a servo 60 and is provided with a piping connection for deeply extending into each heat source of each servo 60, completely eliminating any dead zone, whereby each servo 60 can be subjected to effective cooling and the operation stability of the servo 60 is enhanced.

(3) The present invention uses the cooling head 5 to directly cool the servo 60, effectively preventing localized heat concentration, whereby each servo 60 can be effectively cooled down and power consumption can be reduced.

With such an arrangement of the cooling device in accordance with the present invention, together with the novel structure of the cooling head for direct contact with a servo to be cooled down and for simultaneous connection with multiple servos, temperature in a localized heat concentration zone can be effectively reduced and such an effect can be realized for however compact and concentrated arrangement of multiple servo racks that support the multiple servos.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. 

1. A coolant-circulation cooling device for at least one computer servo, comprising a compressor, a condenser, a coolant reservoir, an evaporation coil, and a piping arrangement, characterized in that: the coolant reservoir is provided with the evaporation coil in a wound condition and forms an outlet opening and an inlet opening which are respectively connected to a coolant supply manifold and a coolant drain manifold to thus connect to a cooling head via the coolant supply manifold and the coolant drain manifold for direct coupling with a heat generation element of each computer servo, the piping arrangement being provided with a pumping device to drive and circulate a coolant through the piping arrangement to enter the cooling head through an inlet tube of the cooling head and then returning back to the coolant reservoir through an outlet tube of the cooling head.
 2. The coolant-circulation cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the inlet tube of the cooling head is connected to the outlet opening of the coolant reservoir and the outlet tube is connected to the inlet opening of the coolant reservoir.
 3. The coolant-circulation cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the cooling head comprises a lower member, which forms a plurality of raised ribs. 